Financials

ONE consists of two separate non-profit organizations:

The ONE Campaign is a nonpartisan 501(c)(3) organization, which educates the public and raises awareness of the crisis of extreme poverty around the globe and the progress being made against it through life-saving programs. (RED) is a division of The ONE Campaign, and partners with some of the world’s most iconic brands, such as Apple, Bank of America, Beats by Dre and Belvedere, who contribute up to 50% of profits from (RED)-branded goods and services to The Global Fund.

ONE Action is a nonpartisan 501(c)(4) organization which presses lawmakers to support smart, effective policies and programs which are saving lives, educating children and helping those living in the world’s poorest countries lift themselves out of poverty.

Each year, ONE completes a Form 990 (see below) for both the ONE Campaign and ONE Action. This is an annual reporting return that federally tax-exempt organizations must file with the US Internal Revenue Service. It provides information on the filing organization’s mission, programs and finances. The latest form is for 2015. Because the 990s are complex documents, we have provided additional analysis.

2015 Financial Summary: The ONE Campaign

The ONE Campaign spent $37.4 million in 2015. The ONE Campaign financials are audited each year. The chart below shows how these expenses supported our work:

83.3% The ONE Campaign’s Programs

The ONE Campaign spent 83% of its budget on raising public awareness and educating policy makers in support of smart and effective policies and programs that are saving the lives of millions of people living in the world’s poorest countries. We strive to spend as much of our budget as possible on this work, which has direct impact. The percentage of funds committed to these programs is above the international best practice of 80%.

13.5% Management and Administration Costs

Management and administrative tasks are necessary to run a global organization that has offices in eight countries. ONE keeps management and administrative costs to a minimum. These costs include salaries for staff globally; legal, accounting and banking fees; and an allocation of indirect costs such as office rent, IT and cellular costs, and website costs.

3.2% Fundraising Costs

The ONE Campaign is funded by a combination of foundations, individual philanthropists and corporations. Thanks to the generosity of our donors, ONE does not solicit funding from the general public and is able to keep its fundraising costs low. The costs here include managing grant proposals, and developing and maintaining donor relationships.

Program Investment: The ONE Campaign

The chart below shows the breakdown of The ONE Campaign’s 2015 program expenses:

US Public Education and Awareness Raising: $10,078,643

The ONE Campaign continued its work of educating and raising awareness among the US public, media and policy makers about the importance of official development assistance and international programs that prevent diseases; combatting HIV/AIDS, tuberculosis and malaria; and fighting hunger and famine in the developing world. In September, the United Nations adopted the Sustainable Development Goals, and ONE Campaign worked throughout the year to make the Goals substantive, accountable and “famous” to our membership and the general public. ONE was an integral part of major collaborative efforts like Project Everyone, Global Citizen and Action/2015 to make the new Global Goals as famous as possible.

European Public Education and Awareness Raising: $8,867,542

The ONE Campaign continued to raise public awareness of and engagement in the fight against extreme poverty and disease across Europe, in particular Germany, France, the UK, Netherlands, Italy, Sweden and the institutions of the European Union. ONE also ran awareness raising campaigns and public mobilization efforts in Ireland and Australia.

Working alongside partners in the sector, the ONE Campaign continued to stress the importance of protecting ODA budgets.

ONE played a prominent role in local public education and mobilisation campaigns around a number of key issues for ONE including placing women and girls at the heart of development via Poverty Is Sexist. In June, on the eve of the German G7 Summit, ONE’s European Youth Ambassadors were joined by ONE members from the USA, Canada and Japan as they participated in a series of public stunts and events calling upon G7 leaders to commit to the 0.7% pledge of GNI to development aid, to support greater investments in nutrition and to make commitments of investing at least 50% of development assistance to least developed countries.

2015 was the year of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and ONE in Europe played a key role as part of a number of national and international coalitions, mobilising the general public to support and promote the SDGs. ONE was central to the ‘action/2015’ #LightTheWay events in Europe on the eve of the Global Goals being announced. ONE took the lead in Paris, Berlin and Brussels, and played a key role in the London event. ONE also campaigned to support the replenishment of Gavi, the Vaccines Alliance.

(RED): $5,684,253

In 2015, (RED) further accelerated private sector engagement on behalf of the Global Fund through partnerships with leading companies including Apple, Bank of America, The Coca-Cola Company, Beats by Dre, and Belvedere, among many others. Through partnership proceeds and campaigns, (RED) generated a total of $46 million for The Global Fund to Fight AIDS, Tuberculosis and Malaria (“The Global Fund”).

During the year, GAP, one of (RED)’s founding partners, rejoined the fight along with new private sector partners: Alessi, Alex and Ani, LeCreuset, Fresh, Supercell and Uber.

In June, (RED) activated its culinary campaign, EAT (RED) DRINK (RED) SAVE LIVES, for the second consecutive year, led by chef Mario Batali and supported by more than 50 leading chef ambassadors. Expanded to run for the entire month of June, food and drinks fans could support the AIDS fight at more than 13,000 locations worldwide with (RED) branded menu items and creative social activations. The campaign launched with an outdoor dinner for 1,000 guests in New York City, featuring a live performance by The Roots and celebrity attendees Vanessa Bayer, Kathleen Turner, Brendan Fallis and Carmen Ejogo, among others.

World AIDS Day 2015 heralded the launch of the inaugural ‘(RED) Shopathon’– a month long holiday shopping campaign offering (RED) products, chances to win once-in-a-lifetime celebrity experiences, and auctions to brunch with leading business figures. The campaign launched on the eve of World AIDS Day with a special (RED) takeover of Jimmy Kimmel Live, and guest appearances from Bono, Snoop Dogg and Matt Damon. On December 1, World AIDS Day, (RED) teamed-up with Snapchat to offer three special filters designed by Jared Leto, DJ Tiesto and Jimmy Kimmel, with the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation giving $3 every time the filter was used that day, up to $3 million. With Gates Foundation matching, the campaign generated a total of $28 million for the Global Fund.

Other World AIDS Day highlights included a ninth annual (RED) holiday single from The Killers, and additional activations from partners including Supercell, LiveNation Entertainment and Uber.

Policy Research and Analysis on Aid Tracking, Agriculture, AIDS, Transparency, and the MDG’s: $3,341,610

The ONE Campaign produced 3 reports in 2015: our first flagship Poverty is Sexist report; our 2015 DATA report: Putting the Poorest first; and Unfinished Business: Tracking Global Commitments on AIDS, Volume 4. In addition, we launched the Follow the Money portal which exposes how open data can ensure that we can track public money to ensure it’s going to the right places and the global health team continued to monitor the response to the West African Ebola crisis through the online accountability tool to track donor commitments and disbursements through most of the year.

We also produced policy briefings in the run up to major moments including Financing for Development, the UN’s Ebola Conference, World Food Day, the AGOA authorization. We also submitted documents to the SEC of examples of using extractives data to successfully tackle corruption, as they clarified the public rule in the US and convened leaders from across NGOs, governments and business to launch a new organization: The Global Partnership for Sustainable Development Data.

The health and nutrition teams focused on the G7 as a key moment in leveraging new commitments and pledging for our core issues. The agriculture team convened a coalition around SDG2, focusing on accountability and transparency in agriculture, food security, and nutrition spending.

African Engagement and Outreach: $3,032,635

The ONE Campaign maintained its Africa office in Johannesburg, South Africa, from which it strengthened its staff capacity and expanded relationships with key African civil society partners, policy makers and influencers to fight against extreme poverty. The ONE Campaign’s key focus for 2015 was on making the new Sustainable Development Goals focused, financed and followed. The ONE Africa team collaborated with the Global Team to back big efforts like Project Everyone, Global Citizen and Action/2015 to make the new Global Goals into a big brand and to make them as famous as possible.

ONE went on to launch a campaign on International Women’s Day that spoke a very simple truth: Poverty is Sexist. ONE teamed up with nine of Africa’s top female artists to write and record a new song called Strong Girl, which was nominated for an All Africa Music Award, received extensive airplay across the continent and went on to be a true anthem for our campaign. The song was later remixed by male artists to demonstrate that these issues aren’t just for women — they’re for everyone.

In addition to the song, ONE Africa collaborated with the World Economic Forum, OXFAM, African Union, AFRIMMA, and many other like-minded organizations to carry the Poverty is Sexist message forward. ONE held policy forums on gender and poverty in Zambia, Zimbabwe, Tanzania and South Africa. A strong communique came out from these forums and was endorsed by a number of civil society organizations. More than 1,017,447 people in Africa signed our Poverty is Sexist petition, including more than 600,000 new members. ONE presented the communique and petition to five African Union Heads of State at the AU summit in Johannesburg, who later adopted a set of policy decisions to empower Africa women. ONE’s African members were truly the force behind this campaign.

At the Financing for Development summit held in Addis Ababa in July 2015, our calls on the Least Developed Countries to have an increase in their direction and 50% of global financing were clearly heard.

The 2015 ONE Africa Award: $132,766

The ONE Campaign made its annual ONE Africa Award to an African-based civil society organization that employs innovative approaches to helping achieve one or more of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs).

In 2015, the ONE Campaign awarded its annual $100,000 ONE Africa Award to Support for Women in Agriculture and Environment – SWAGEN. SWAGEN is a member based organization that uses indigenous knowledge to adapt to, mitigate and improve environmental and sustainable development policies that impact forest dependent communities. The work of SWAGEN is based in the Rwoho Natural Tropical Forest of Uganda. SWAGEN’s impact in advocacy stood out from a pool of 252 impressive applications from 33 countries across Africa. SWAGEN is credited with negotiating a national policy reform on Forest Conservation in Uganda that recognizes the rights of the forest dependent communities.

With the exception of the ONE Africa Award, ONE is not a grant-making organization and does not directly fund charity projects in developing countries; work which is done well by other NGOs.

2015 Financial Summary: ONE Action

ONE Action spent $3.69 million in 2015. ONE Action financials are audited each year. The chart below shows how these expenses supported our work:

83.6% Action Programs

ONE Action spent 83.6% of its budget on pressing policy makers to support smart and effective policies and programs that are saving the lives of millions of people living in the world’s poorest countries.

ONE Action’s advocacy work continues to play an important role in persuading US and European lawmakers to protect and, where possible, increase funding for ONE Action’s core priorities. ONE Action’s members are highly engaged advocates and contributed valuable support to ONE Action’s major campaigns.

Energy
Building on its previous work, ONE members across the country continued to campaign for the Electrify Africa Act, legislation that would give 50 million people in sub-Saharan Africa first-time access to electricity. The energy campaign continued to be one of ONE’s most successful grassroots campaigns ever. In 2015, ONE volunteers recruited 20,994 new members, sent more than 37,825 messages to Congress, 6,898 calls and delivered 426 petitions with 165,000 signatures in support of the Electrify Africa Act. The bill passed the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in October 2015, and the House in January 2016. President Obama signed the bill into law in February 2016.

Our efforts to increase access to electricity in sub-Saharan Africa began in 2013, when ONE worked with bipartisan lawmakers to introduce the Electrify Africa Act in the U.S. House of Representatives and the Energize Africa Act in the U.S. Senate. Throughout the multi-year campaign, ONE mobilized 186,891 letters, conducted 744 volunteer meetings on Capitol Hill, sent 5,445 Tweets, made 4,814 calls, delivered 657 petitions. In total, our volunteers made nearly 200,000 direct contacts with Congressional offices. The energy campaign also signed up 360,000 petition signers and recruited 24,000 new ONE members.

ONE Vote

ONE Vote 16 is a campaign to secure policy commitments from candidates, cultivate relationships with future leaders, and demonstrate constituency support for international development. In 2015, ONE hired local organizers in early primary states (New Hampshire, Iowa, and South Carolina) to demonstrate a strong presence at campaign stops and ask candidates what they would do to address extreme poverty in Africa and support ONE’s legislative agenda, if elected. We received strong answers of support for the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR), and empowering women and girls in sub-Saharan Africa. We also met with and briefed senior staff for nearly all major campaigns to provide information and build relationships.

Europe
Budget fights, leadership changes and disruptions to the political environment influenced our work in 2015, as ONE Action utilized a clever combination of public campaigning and insider advocacy to reverse decreases to ODA budgets and secure commitments to an end to extreme poverty from a new wave of political leaders.

EU funds for development were in a critical state in October, as EU Member States sought to cut the EU Budget for 2016, with a disproportionate share coming from the EU External Spending allocation (which includes funds for development). Targeted public campaigning and insider advocacy by ONE secured an impressive win which saw EU External Spending receive an increase of 5% on the 2015 budget – which means an additional €9.17 Billion on 2015 levels, for helping refugees, humanitarian aid and development programs.

In France, the draft 2016 budget published in early October made for grim reading, with a 5% cut in the core ODA budget held in the Foreign Ministry. During three intensive days in Parliament, our French Youth Ambassadors met 20 parliamentarians and advocated for amendments that would increase aid (mostly via proceeds of the Financial Transaction Tax). Afterwards, our Youth Ambassadors participated in a Parliamentary hearing on ODA, remained active on Twitter, did media interviews and continued to have meetings with other parliamentarians. Beyond the Youth Ambassadors, our ODA work included media several advocacy meetings including with Finance Minister Sapin and a stunt with other NGOs. The key amendments were passed, mostly against the will of the government, and as a result the 5% cut in the core ODA budget was turned into an 5.5% increase – worth €170 million.

In the run up to and in the aftermath of the UK May general election we asked Members of Parliament to back our ‘Just Say Yes’ campaign and commit to keep the nation’s promises to the world’s poorest, focus more aid on countries that have the least, and put women and girls at the center of development. After determined writing, calling and door-stepping by our members and Youth Ambassadors, we achieved our ambition of more than half of all MPs supporting the pledge, with 346 (53%) backing the campaign by its closure in November.

13.6% Management and Administration Costs

Management and administrative costs include salaries for global operations staff, including the finance, HR and office management; legal, accounting and banking fees; and an allocation of indirect costs such as office rent, IT and cellular costs, and website costs.

2.8% Fundraising Costs

ONE Action is funded by the ONE Campaign and individual philanthropists. Thanks to the generosity of our donors, ONE Action does not solicit funding from the general public and as such, is able to keep its fundraising costs low.

Donors

ONE and (RED) are funded by a combination of foundations, individual philanthropists and corporations. We do not solicit funds from the general public or receive government funding. Below is a list of our financial supporters who have contributed at least $25,000 annually to our work since January 2015. Some of our donors have asked for confidentiality and we respect this request. Funding from anonymous donors amounts to less than 4% of our total grants and contributions.

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